ᐅ Single-family home, approximately 160 m², Bauhaus style; first design draft based on our requirements

Created on: 23 Aug 2019 22:03

Hello everyone,

we've been looking forward to this for a long time, and now we can finally share our first draft floor plan/design for discussion. We’re very curious to hear your feedback.
Those of you who have seen my thread before (https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/efh-Bauhausstil-Wohnfläche-180m-mit-Doppelgarage.31853/) know what to expect, and here comes the gem.

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 530m² (about 5,700 sq ft)
Slope: No
Site coverage ratio (Grundflächenzahl): see screenshot
Floor area ratio (Geschossflächenzahl): see screenshot
Building envelope, building line, and boundaries: see screenshot
Edge development: see screenshot
Number of parking spaces: double garage
Number of floors: 2
Roof style: flat roof
Architectural style: Bauhaus
Orientation
Maximum height/limitations
Other requirements

The green highlighted area represents our plot => Parcel 8479

Cadastral map with pink parcels LP II, blue outlines, green line with marker.

Schematic representation of building use, site coverage ratio, WA and BauNVO references.

Schematic floor plan of a house with room layout and labels WA 1 2 WE

Homeowner Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Bauhaus style, flat roof
Basement, floors: Basement yes, ground floor, upper floor
Number of residents, ages: 3 people, potentially 4: 33, 30, 2 years old
Space requirements on ground and upper floors: Initially planned 180 m² (about 1,940 sq ft) on two stories, now reduced to 160 m² (about 1,720 sq ft) after feedback, with the ground floor slightly larger than the upper floor, around 75–85 m² (810–915 sq ft)
Office: Family use or home office? Yes, in the basement (guest room <-> office)
Overnight guests per year: Hard to say, probably about 10 times per year with 2–5 guests each time
Open or closed architecture: Rather open
Conservative or modern construction: Rather modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: Island
Number of dining spaces: 1
Fireplace: Yes
Music/sound system wall: Our soundbar is sufficient
Balcony, roof terrace: Maybe, undecided (Architect’s comment: How often do you really go out for a beer on the balcony/roof terrace instead of the nice terrace on the ground floor?)
Garage, carport: Double garage, possibly single garage with carport
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: Small but nice (a few tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchinis…)

House Design
Planning by: Architect

What do you particularly like? Why? We like the architecture with the two offset rectangles, though we wonder if the extra cost (no price estimate yet) justifies this. We believe it is structurally more challenging than a simple "cube."
What don’t you like? Why? The size of the bedroom/walk-in closet/children’s room. It feels like the bedroom is missing 2–5 m² (about 20–55 sq ft), as is the second children’s room.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: The initial draft was around 550,000 EUR
Personal price limit for the house, including fixtures: 620,000 EUR
Preferred heating technology: Indifferent, but tendency toward heat pump.

If you had to give up something, which details/finishes
- You can give up: the current shape (nice but a cube would also do)
- You cannot give up: space

Why is the design the way it is now? For example:
Standard design from the planner? This is the second design resulting from last week’s discussion with us, and we find it very successful.
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? Absolutely, plus the idea he had to move the kitchen during development. The guest room has now moved to the basement, allowing more space on the ground floor (beforehand, it felt quite cramped and “squeezed”).
What makes it especially good or bad in your opinion? The architecture

...and now I’ll leave you alone with our house

Ground floor plan of a house with terrace, garden with trees and garage

Floor plan of a residential house with double garage, open living/kitchen area, terrace, and staircase.

Floor plan of a house: terrace, living-dining area with kitchen, hallway, vestibule, wardrobe, WC/shower.

Upper floor plan:

Floor plan of an upper floor: hallway, bathroom, bedroom, child 1, child 2, walk-in closet

Basement:

Site plan of a plot with parcels, building areas and road layout

Notstrom13 Sep 2019 06:59

#169

So, once again. I am a layperson in this field. We definitely have an idea of how we want our house to look, but we are not set in stone or anything like that. If the “perfect” floor plan for me has gaps or flaws, I am happy to review, evaluate, and possibly take them into account. That’s why I appreciate any feedback, preferably now rather than after the house is built. The main issue here was that the architect a) wanted to push through their own concept (cube design, kitchen, etc.), b) was disappointed that we only made progress in small steps, and c) the floor plans we had were significantly better than the architect’s. That made us think.

Notstrom13 Sep 2019 07:02

#170

[QUOTE]Notstrom wrote:
We will tell the architect that our room layout should be guided by the house design, not the other way around.

If you actually told him that, it explains his displeasure.
[/QUOTE]

That was a reference to the overlapping pumpkins. Their shape made almost everything much more difficult for us...

kaho67413 Sep 2019 07:08

#171

Notstrom schrieb:

This was referring to the pumpkins stacked on top of each other. Their shape made everything much more difficult for us...

Three orange pumpkins stacked as autumn decoration, decorated with colorful flowers and greenery.

Like this?

I’m afraid the situation is already done and dusted. The ratio is off. But it wasn’t all for nothing; experience is valuable too. Next time you’ll be more careful with the hiring process and more precise when making your selection.

Notstrom13 Sep 2019 07:12

#172

kaho674 schrieb:

[ATTACH alt="kuerbisse.jpg"]38132[/ATTACH]
Something like this?

I’m afraid the situation is already beyond help. The ratio is off. It wasn’t a complete loss, though—gaining experience is valuable. Next time, you’ll be more careful with hiring and more thorough when selecting.

Something along those lines, yes.
As I said: All good, expensive learning experience, lots of insights, a bit frustrating but it is what it is now.

Baufie13 Sep 2019 07:30

#173

Notstrom schrieb:

So, once again. I’m a layperson in this field. We definitely have an idea of how we want our house to look, but we’re not set in stone or anything like that. If the “perfect” floor plan I have in mind shows gaps or flaws, I’m happy to review, assess, and possibly take that into account. That’s why I appreciate any feedback, better now than after the house is built. The main sticking point was that the architect a) wanted to push through his concept (cube shape, kitchen,...), b) was disappointed that progress was only made in small steps, and c) that the floor plans we came up with ourselves were so much better than the architect’s. That gave us something to think about.

Regarding a) You were actually excited about the kitchen at first, or at least that’s how I remember it. I’m not sure the architect was trying to push his concept through unwillingly. Which brings us to b) what disappointment do you mean about progress being made in small steps? Do you expect the architect to hit the mark perfectly with the first draft? If so, you need to go to a prefab house provider and choose a standard floor plan. With an architect, you develop the layout together, and that can take some time. For us, the whole process took around eight months, although the initial draft matched our ideas quite well already. But we tried out so many options. Some acquaintances even had a planning phase that lasted almost 15 months...
And for c) the floor plans weren’t that much better. Some were just further developments of the architect’s plans, and you could have reached that with the architect as well.

Again, these are laypeople involved here, and you’re letting yourself be pushed toward a step like cutting ties with the architect? I’m expecting an interesting construction phase…

bortel13 Sep 2019 07:50

#174

That shows the "power" of a forum

ᐅ Single-family home, approximately 160 m², Bauhaus style; first design draft based on our requirements

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